Page 81 - Security Today, March 2020

“With this program, I think we’re also hoping to engage some of the [staff’s] creativity. They can be part of the solution.”
get it in one location and how to do that in a way that’s useful, that’s what we’re hoping to get through our ... partnership and the startup,” Tkachyk said.
The county’s two other challenges are related to law enforce- ment. The sheriff’s department hopes to digitize the process by which employees request shifts and time off—a task they must now do by paper and submit in person. The department also wants to improve tracking of visitors and others coming and go- ing from Cuyahoga County Jail. Currently, visitors get a printout that identifies them as such, but there’s no way to guarantee that they have left when they were supposed to.
“A number of these challenges are really related to moving from [a] very cumbersome process to more streamlined processes and using technology to then enhance the streamlined process,” Tkachyk said. We want to “spend more time on the front-end service of actually serving our residents instead of spending a lot of our efforts doing the paperwork, doing the backend work.”
Another goal behind participating in STIR is to get employees interested in solving problems and conducting county business in new ways. “With this program, I think we’re also hoping to en-
gage some of the [staff ’s] creativity,” she said. “They can be part of the solution.”
Once the proposals are in next month, the county will handle them through the standard procurement process, Hrubey said. The companies’ residency will start at the end of January.
The STIR program began in San Francisco in 2014 and now includes city, county, regional government and state participants from across North America. One successful civic solution to come out of the program is Binti, an application that streamlines the process for becoming a foster parent. It saves San Francisco Human Services Agency workers 20 percent to 40 percent of their time and increases the foster system’s capacity by 300 percent.
Other cities and challenges participating in the 2019 STIR program include:
• Takoma Park, Maryland, which is looking to identify and
connect residents with workforce programs and resources.
• Carlsbad, California, which wants an integrated solution to feed city right-of-way data directly into the Waze for Cities program to improve communication of traffic information to
residents.
• Chula Vista, California, which seeks a way
to improve connectivity for first responders’ drone operations.
Stephanie Kanowitz is a freelance writer based in northern Virginia.
Online Security Technology Training
Take charge of your security technology training with our online training courses.
Train as an individual or implement a companywide program with a Corporate Account.
Our courses are suitable for everyone in the security
industry. They are available 24/7, making it the most
convenient and cost effective solution for anyone
who wants to improve security knowledge or skills.
Approved for Continuing Education (CE) by various + security associations and government bodies, the
courses include:
• CCTV + Digital Video
• IP Networking
• Access Control
• Biometrics Technology
• Fiber Optics
• Basic Electricity
• Wireless Technology
Register today atsecuritytodayacademy.com
Go to sp.hotims.com and enter 20 for product information.
79